16 BIRDS' NESTS 



made, and evidently the work of inexperienced birds. 

 This is all the more remarkable in species that make 

 fairly elaborate nests, being specially observable in 

 such nests as those of the Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Long- 

 tailed Titmouse, and Song Thrush. But when we 

 begin to quote examples we might name almost 

 every nest-building species, and we know that the 

 experience is a common one amongst naturalists and 

 collectors. That the fact is widely known is proved 

 by a note contributed to the Leisure Hour some years 

 ago by a correspondent at Petersfield. My readers 

 may possibly like to have the extract in full. " About 

 eight years ago a Blackbird built near a well in our 

 garden. It was evidently a novice at building, for 

 it put such a large lump of clay in the nest it could 

 not tread it down into the proper layer, though it 

 tried hard to do so for several days. At length it 

 built another nest about a hundred yards from the 

 first, and that it filled so full of leaves it could not 

 make a comfortable nest, and eventually relinquished 

 it. I do not know what the bird did in the end, 

 but a village boy who was working in the garden 

 told my children that the first nest was built 

 by a young bird who had not learnt to build 

 properly. I doubted that being true, and when the 

 bird made a second failure the boy again pointed out 

 that he was right as to its being a bird which had 

 never made a nest and had not gained experience; 

 and that he and other boys often found nests badly 



